Novelty finish



Patented Nov. 19, 1935 a UNITED STATES NOVELTY rmrsn Theodore A. Neuhaus, Lakewood, Ohio, assignmto The Glidden Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a

corporation Ohio No Drawing. Application February 14,1934 Serial No. 711,273

12 Claims. (01. 9148) This invention relates to novelty finishes, and has particular reference to a new and novel twotone metallic finish obtained by the use of a dyed metallic lacquer over a composite undercoater.

Two tone finishes have been obtained in the past by various expedients. In all cases, the surface to be finished is firstfcoated with a solid coating of one color, and a second color is then applied so as to cover only part of the undercoater. This 1 may be accomplished by using various types of top coats. The brush, of course, is always available, to form decorative designs. The undercoater may be masked ofi in the desired design,

' and an ordinary top coat then sprayed; the masking operation, however, is slow and expensive.

Colors may also be fogged on, to give the socalled antiqued" eilect. veiling lacquers may be'used. which string out of a spray gun, and stay put in strings on the surface. These give a pleasing design, of a definite type.

A very popular finish some years ago was the so-called crackle lacquer. These are highly pigmented lacquers with such low percentages of binder that on application to a surface, the film 5 cracks open. Becauseof the poor film strength, an undercoater is necessary to give adhesion and strength to the film; and it is almost essential that a top coat be applied to the film, to protect and liven up the dull, porous crackled film. By using contrasting colors for undercoat and crackle lacquer, with a clear top coat, a pleasing twotone efiect can be obtained; using a colored topcoat of well-selected color, a grain efiect resembling leather results.

It is, however, impossible to obtain a two toned metallic effect by this method. While a metallic undercoater can' be used, good crackle lacquers cannot be obtained using metallic powders as pigments. It is possible to get a broken film, but

the design is not uniformly crackled. In addition, a clear top coat to protect the lacquer results in a non-metallic eiie'ct being obtained.

I have found that a two-tone metallic effect can be obtained by the use of a dyed metallic lacquer as a top coat over crackled lacquer, or over any composite undercoater where a portion of the undercoater is relatively porous, and the other portion is relatively non-porous. The porous 5 portions of the undercoater absorb the dye, separatingit from the metal powder, so that over the porous portions the lacquer dries to the color of the metallic powder over the non-porous portions of the imdercoater it dries to a metallic 55 color which depends on the dye used. As no top coat is needed over the bronzing lacquer, a metallic two-tone effect is obtained.

As an example of my invention, I employ as a base coat an ordinary black lacquer, formulating it for the surface to be finished.- Regular wood 5 or metal lacquer enamels may be employed. I then spray a blackcrackle. lacquer over the base coat, permitting it to crackle and form a composite undercoater, the base coat showing through the crackle to give a non-porous surface, the 10 crackle lacquer presenting a porous surface. This black crackle may be formulated as follows:

I prefer to use the black undercoaters because of low cost; it is possible to use any color on either coat, the only essential being that the base coat dry to a relatively non-porous surface.

Over the composite undercoat I spray my dyed 30 metallic lacquer. The clear lacquer used may be of any composition; and is preferably an ordinary bronzing lacquer using high viscosity nitrocellulose with some gum. A satisfactory lacquer of this type, designed to reduce 100% for spraying 35 may be made from-- 10 ounces of a 17.5% solution of 70% dope nitrocellulose in toluol and ethyl acetate 2 ounces of a 70% solution of ester gum in toluol ounces of butanol I 40 1 ounce of ethyl acetate 8 ounces of toluol 3%; ounces of butyl acetate The metal powder used may be of any type, depending on the color combination desired. Enough powder should be used for covering (from %#-2# per gallon). If a powder other than aluminum is ,used, it should be added to the lacquer on the Job, as all metallic powders other than aluminum tend to gel the lacquer or change color in the package.

.The clear lacquer may be dyed before or after the powder is added. As this addition requires a trained eye and careful shading, I prefer to add it at the factory, so that where powder is to be added on the job, it, is added to a ready dyed lacquer. The dyes may be any colors compatible with nitrocellulose lacquers, and should preferably be addedin solution. Satisfactory dye solutions are solutions of water soluble acid type dyes in the mono ethyl ether of ethylene glycol and methanol; some oil soluble dyes give satisfactory results with lacquer, and may be used.

An indicated above, the dyed metallic lacquer, on being sprayed over the composite undercoater, dries to the dyed metallic color'over the nonporous portions of the undercoater, and to the original color of the metal over the porous portions, owing to the absorption of the dye by the porous undercoater. Thus a pleasing two-tone metallic effect is obtained in a simple, economical manner. a

While I have applied this invention particularly to'crackle lacquer, as a cheap and convenient way of getting a two-tone metallic finish,

.- other methods of obtaining a composite undercoater may be used, such as brushing, or mask spraying, a porous product (such as an iron filler, or a coarsely ground surfacer for example) over a non-porous product.

By using a porous under'coater (such as iron filler or a surfacer) and partially sealing it with a. clear sealer, or a non-porous oil, synthetic or lacquer enamel, using a brush, a mask spray or a squeegee application through a silk screen in a manner well known to the art, I obtain a surface in which the design is non-porous, the background porous, thus reversing the metallic contrast when a dyed metallic lacquer is applied.

It is apparent that this invention resides in my discovery that porous surfaces have a selective action on the dye in dyed metallic lacquers, and

powder and dye.

senting both porous and non-porous areas, and a nitrocellulose lacquer top-coat'containing a metallic powder and dye.

3. An article coated with a. two-tone metallic finish comprising a relatively porous first coat,

a non-porous second coat partially sealing the first coat, and a top-coat containing a metallic 4. An article coated with a two-tone metallic finish comprising a relatively non-porous first coat, a porous second coat partially covering the lic finish which comprises prepari porous areas, and to the undyed first coat, and a top-coat containing a metallic powder and dye. I

5. An article coated with a two-tone metallic finish comprising a relatively non-porous first coat, a crackled porous second coat, and a topcoat containing a metallic powder and dye.

6. An article coated with a two-tone metallic finish comprising a relatively non-porous first coat, a second coat of crackle lacquer, and a topcoat containing a metallic powder and dye.

'7. The method of producing a two-tone metallic finish which comprises preparing a surface presenting both porous and non-porous areas, and applying a top-coat thereon containing a metallic powder'and a dye, whereby the topcoat dries to the dyed metallic color over the nonporous areas, and to the undyed metallic color over the porous areas.

8. The method of producing a two-tone metai ng a surface 2 presenting both porous and non-porous areas, and applying a nitrocellulose lacquer top-coat thereon containing a metallic powder and a dye, whereby the top coat dries to the dyed" metallic color over the non-porous areas, and to the undyed metallic color over the porous areas.

9. The method of producing a two-tone metallic effect which comprises partially sealing a porous base coat to form a surface presenting both porous and non-porous areas, and applying a topas 10. The method of producing a two-tone metallic efifect whichcomprises partially covering a non-porous first coat with a porous second coat, and applying a top-coat thereon containing a metallic powder and a dye, whereby the top-coatdries to the dyed metallic color over the-nonmetallic color overthe porous areas. 11. The method of producing a two-tone metallic eifect which comprises covering a nonporous first coat with a crackled porous second metallic powder and a dye, whereby the. top 56 dries to the dyed metallic color over the nonporous areas, and to the undyed metallic color over the crackle lacquer.

- THEODORE A. NEUHAUS. 

